Module GEOG3917: POLITICAL ECONOMIES/ECOLOGIES OF NATURE

Department: Geography

GEOG3917: POLITICAL ECONOMIES/ECOLOGIES OF NATURE

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 Geography Module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To explore how the category ‘nature’ is conceptualised in contemporary geography
• To develop a critical awareness of nature as a key term in political, economic and cultural discourse
• To critically evaluate using contemporary political and cultural theory how the category nature functions in contemporary environmental discourse

Content

• Political Economies/Ecologies of Nature surveys several different streams of thought current in human geography that seek to problematize the ‘taken-for-granted-ness’ of nature as it appears in contemporary debates in political ecology and political economy. The module aims to evaluate the densely knotted worlds of ‘nature’ and ‘society’ in the context of real world environmental case studies. The empirical emphasis of the module is on two different but sometimes interrelated environmental problems: climate change and the politics of forest conservation. A major focus of the module concerns the way in which both are refracted through and animated by contemporary neoliberalism. This module is not a guide on how best to balance the interests of society with those of nature. Rather, it invites you to think critically about some very deeply ingrained assumptions concerning the relationships between nature and culture/economy in contemporary modern life. The module combines case studies with in-depth theoretical material drawn predominantly from postcolonialism, Poststructuralism and posthumanism.
• What is nature?
• Neoliberalism and nature I - markets
• Neoliberalism and nature II – politics
• Neoliberalism and nature III - biopolitics
• Neoliberalism and nature IV – environmental biopolitics
• Postcolonialism and nature I: landscape and difference
• Postcolonialism and nature II: race
• Posthumanism

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
• Identify and critically evaluate how nature works as an organising principle in historical and/or contemporary political, culture, economic or environmental discourses
• Demonstrate advanced level understanding of what is meant by and the significance of the idea that nature is socially constructed
• Understand a range of advanced theoretical concepts and principles that geographers use for making sense of complex environmental political and economic discourses

• On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
• Critically reflect on a range of concepts and theoretical approaches for understanding nature
• Apply these concepts and theoretical approaches in order to understand real world environmental political phenomena
• Evaluate the appropriateness of these concepts and theoretical approaches for understanding real world environmental political and economic phenomena

• On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
• Demonstrate a variety of written communication skills
• Demonstrate a capacity to reflect critically and creatively on the relations between concepts and a range of real world problems and issues
• Demonstrate the ability to synthesise information and develop an argument on contemporary issues and problems

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Core lecture content will introduce various concepts and theories for thinking about political economies/ecologies of nature. Understanding of these theories and concepts will be reinforced through continual reference to historical and contemporary case studies. The lecture content will provide students with the basic analytical tools needed to: a) identify and critically evaluate how nature works as an organising principle in historical and/or contemporary political, culture, economic or environmental discourses; b) demonstrate advanced level understanding of what is meant by and the significance of the idea that nature is socially constructed; and c) understand a range of advanced theoretical concepts and principles that geographers use for making sense of complex environmental political and economic discourses.
• Workshops provide opportunities for focused discussion on key aspects of the module.
• The formative assessment (a book review) provides students with an early opportunity to: a) begin to reflect critically on the concepts and theories developed in the lectures; and b) apply these critical reflections in order to understand real world environmental political phenomena.
• The summative assessment (a self-directed analytical essay) provides students with an opportunity to: a) evaluate and identify relevant theories and concepts developed in the lectures; b) consolidate their critical reflections into an analytical essay; and c) synthesise a wide range of information to develop an argument on contemporary issues and problems

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

2-page book review In-class group presentations

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University